Payroll employment up by 200,000 in January 2018

February 06, 2018

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 200,000 in January 2018 and increased 2.1 million over the year. Over the month, employment continued to trend up in construction, food services and drinking places, health care, and manufacturing.

Construction added 36,000 jobs in January, with most of the increase occurring among specialty trade contractors (+26,000). Employment in residential building construction continued to trend up over the month (+5,000). Over the year, construction employment increased by 226,000.

Employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend up in January (+31,000). The industry added 255,000 jobs over the past 12 months.

Employment in health care continued to trend up in January (+21,000), with a gain of 13,000 in hospitals. In 2017, health care added an average of 24,000 jobs per month.

Employment in other major industries, including mining, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, professional and business services, and government, changed little over the month.